


The Thain's Messenger

by Agent_Snark



Category: Green Rider Series - Kristen Britain, Majo no Takkyuubin | Kiki's Delivery Service, The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Accidental Marriage, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Erebor Never Fell, Dwarf & Hobbit Cultural Differences, Dwarf Courting, Dwarf Culture & Customs, F/M, Female Bilbo Baggins, Fright Night Challenge 2020, Green Rider Influences, Hair Braiding, Kiki's Delivery Service influences, Magic, Smaug is a familiar, Witchcraft by Frank Sinatra Influences, more tags to come, smaug is tiny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:27:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27297127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agent_Snark/pseuds/Agent_Snark
Summary: Bilba Baggins, one of the remaining Thain's Messengers left in the Shire, is sent to Erebor on a diplomatic mission. On her way there, she saves Frerin's life and alters her own.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Frerin, Fem!Bilbo Baggins/Frerin
Comments: 7
Kudos: 99





	The Thain's Messenger

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whaleofataleteller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whaleofataleteller/gifts).



> For WhaleofaTaleTeller's Fright Night Challenge 2020. I chose Kiki's Delivery Service and Frank Sinatra's Witchcraft for my movie and song to inspire the work. I snuck in a bit of themes inspired by Kristen Britain's Green Rider series (go read it people. It's fabulous!) This will be multiple chapters. I'm not sure how long yet. I hope you all enjoy it!
> 
> Currently unbetad because I forgot to send it to my wonderful beta because I'm super forgetful.

Prologue

Bilba Baggins stood before her grandfather and accepted the sealed message he passed across to her. “You are to remain until the treaty is finalized,” he ordered. “You have leave to act in my stead.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she said, bowing and tucking the message into the leather satchel at her side before leaving his office. She had a long journey ahead of her. Excitement tingled down her spine as she left the royal palace. She grabbed her broom, mounted it, and kicked off the ground, soaring into the sky with practiced ease.

As a member of the royal Took family, Bilba had the option to live in the palace with her numerous cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Her relative distance from the direct line for the throne (she had several cousins in line before her) granted her the freedom to keep her own home, as it had her mother before her. She preferred it that way, with no one scrutinizing her every move.

It took a few hours to return to her own smial in Hobbiton. She landed behind her front gate and went inside, leaning her broom against the wall behind her bright green door. A small symbol etched into it glowed faintly, indicating to all who knew the language, that the Witch was in.

“Smaug!” Bilba called as she went straight to her room. “Smaug! Come on, where are you?”

A grumble sounded from beneath her blankets. “Whatever it is, it can wait until the sun is fully up,” a voice rumbled.

Bilba snatched the blankets from her bed. “Wake up, lazy lizard,” she ordered. “The sun’s been up for hours. We need to get going.”

“Go?” Smaug asked and stretched his body to its full length, all two and a half feet from snout to tail tip. He shook out his wings and blinked up at Bilba with golden eyes. “Where are we going?”

“Erebor,” Bilba said as she grabbed her pack. She flipped it open to check its contents, scanning for her uniforms, camping gear, hunting gear, and the documents that would allow her entry to almost anywhere as one of Shire’s Thain's Messengers. The documents had seen little use over the years, maybe only a handful of times and only in kingdoms that bordered Shire. Her message errand to Erebor was the longest any hobbit would have taken in more than a century. The previous record was held by her mother, all the way to Rivendell, but that was long ago, well before the Fell Winter.

“Finally,” Smaug hissed as he leaped off the bed. “We’re leaving this boring little place.”

“I like it here,” Bilba said for what felt like the millionth time. “But I guess an adventure won’t hurt us.” She closed her pack and headed to her kitchen to grab enough food to last her for the roughly week-long flight, barring any bad weather. She could always land somewhere and set up some snares and forage for food if she ran short.

Once she’d finished packing, she went outside, grabbing her broom on her way. She closed the bright green door behind her and locked it. Smaug swarmed up her leg, leaping from her hip to her shoulder and momentarily spreading his wings to steady himself. He draped himself around her neck and waited for her to mount her broom. Once Bilba was settled, she took a moment to center herself. She breathed deeply, pulling energy around her. Winds started to circle her, flattening the grass and lifting the loose strands of light brown hair from her face, tugging at her clothes and at the red bow that held the end of her braided hair together. When she felt it ready, she jumped and the winds gave her the extra push she needed to keep herself aloft. She kicked off the great oak growing above her home, little bells her mother had tied to the branches long ago jingling as she soared higher into the sky and angled her broom to point east.

They followed the Great East Road, flying high enough there was a bit of chill in the summer air. Smaug hunkered down, coiling himself around Bilba’s waist and burrowing his head beneath her black and silver waistcoat and grumbling about the cold.

“You’ll be fine,” Bilba told him as she leaned slightly to follow the road’s curve. “We’ll stop in a few hours.”

“Would it kill you to fly a little lower?” Smaug demanded.

“You could always fly yourself,” Bilba said. “You’re capable.”

Smaug ignored her and just burrowed closer to her with a grumble and a hiss. Bilba laughed and continued following the road.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments, kudos, and prompts!
> 
> Happy reading!


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